Pictured is Natalie Allison, Alyson Edwards, and Brooklyn Adams
If this season’s goal for the Mansfield Lady Tigers softball team was to render their opponents powerless, then it’s safe to say that they have been successful. With a 9-2 overall record and an undefeated 9-0 conference record, the Lady Tigers have completely shut out the competition in eight out of 11 games with two of those shut-out games being acquired in the last three days. The Lady Tigers started their week on Monday, April 19 with a 10-0 takeover of the Magazine Lady Rattlers. Then on Wednesday, April 21, Mansfield headed south landing in Acorn to take on the Lady Tigers. Tossing out runs like it was birdseed, Mansfield dominated Acorn ending the game with a 12-0 blowout.
With both teams taking a goose egg in the first two innings, Mansfield took control in the third inning and never looked back. With a go big or go home attitude Brooklyn Adams got Mansfield on the board with the first homer of the night. Shortly after that Alyson Edwards found herself earning her first of two runs in the match. With the second and third bases loaded, Haley Walker doubled on a fly ball to right field sending Chloe Creekmore and Natalie Allison home. To close out the top of the third Skylynn Harris upgraded the score to 5-0 when Cole Smith hit a hard ground ball that reached error by Acorns shortstop. Mansfield added one run to the stat book in the fourth inning when Harris doubled on a fly ball to left field allowing Creekmore to score on the throw.
The fifth inning saw Smith, Adams, Kiara Thomas, and Edwards all scoring for the Lady Tigers placing the score at 10-0. Mansfield then turned around and closed out the game the exact same way that they opened it when Natalie Allison homered on a fly ball to centerfield bringing Creekmore home and ending the battle with a final score of 12-0. When it came to scoring the game-ending home run, Allison expressed “I felt so excited. I didn’t realize that I hit it over so I was trying to run really fast and at least get a triple. I saw the girls just stop at the fence and I was wondering what they were doing. I then realized I hit it over and I was so excited. All of the fans and my teammates were screaming and yelling. It made me so happy!”
“This season is successful because we have great coaches. Coach Eveld stepped up to be the head coach and he is doing great. He is the reason my hitting has improved so much since the beginning of the season. You can tell he actually cares about everyone on the team and wants us to be the best we can be. Coach Cothran is also a big contributor. He is very encouraging and is always helping us improve whether it’s in the cage or on the field. He has taught me a lot of things about being a centerfielder and it has helped me tremendously. We are also a very hard-working team and we are all very close. It helps having a team that is also like family.”
“I am most proud of how far we have come in a short amount of time. We started softball season late due to basketball going far in the State Tournament. We knew we had little time to practice so we went straight to work. We have also had to make some adjustments with short notice. Our centerfielder, Kynslee Ward, got injured and is out the rest of the season. The team has done a great job at trusting the coaches and playing where they need us to. I’m so proud of how hard we have been working in practice too. I love this team and I think we can go very far this season!!” In total season stats, the Lady Tigers hold 116 hits, 126 runs, 3 HR, 97 RBI, 141 putouts, and a fielding percentage of .925. Next up for Mansfield is their last conference game before District play when they face the Lady Rebels, Thursday, April 22 at JC Westside.
